Type-writing machine.



A. 'l'. BROWN.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED mm3, 190e.

Patented June 11, 1912,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNEESEE I NVENTCIR z j. ,j uw www y amm @VFMQI /f WMM] :4:5 ATTIIQNEY A. T. BROWN. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 190s.

Patented June 11, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTDR.

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Phs ATTURNEY UNTTED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

ALEXANDER T. BROWN, 0F SYBACUSE, NEW YORK.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

Specication or Letters Patent. 'Original application led October 21, 1804, Serial No. 229,485. Divided and this application filed January Patent-,canne 11, 1912.

3, 190B. Serial No. 409,214.

To all whim it may wacom.'

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER T. BROWN, citizen of the United States, and resident of Syracuse, irut-he county. of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Type- Writing Machines, of) which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to typewriting machines and more especially to the universal bar and the fdevices associated therewith, and said invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts which will be fully set forth herein and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The present case is a division of my prior application, filed October 21st, 1904, Serial No. 229,485, which, in turn, is adivision of my still earlier application filed June 29th, 1904, Serial No. 214,625, which applications have matured respectively into Patents No. 915,015, dated Mch. 9, 1909, and No. 935,776, dated Oct. 5, 1909.

lOne embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is :1t/longitudinal sectional view of a typewriting machine; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary rear view of the universal bar and part of the escapement mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to a front-strike typewriter, but many of the lfeatures thereof are also applicable to other sorts of typewriters. The base por-V tion of the main frame of the machine here Villustrated comprises side plates V1, a back plate 2, a shelf 3 and a transverse partition 4. Posts 5 rising from the said base portion support a top plate 6 upon which the carriage is mounted. The keys 7 have their stems pivoted to arms 8 projecting from rock shafts 9, which are journaled at their forward ends in frame plates 10 and at their rear ends in the partition 4. Each of said rock shafts carries an arm 11, which is connected by a link 12 to one arm 13 of a three armed sub-lever, another arm 14 of which is connected by a link 15 to a type bar 16 which carries at its outer end two types 17 and 18. The sub-levers are pivoted in hangers 19 which are secured by screws 2() to a fixed segment 21 which is rigidly mounted in the main frame. The type bars 16 are journaled by ball bearings on'a segment 22, which is supported by arms 23 for an u and down case shift motion. The mechanism thus far described ,is not claimed herein, as such mechanism forms the subject-matter of other applications of mine copending herewith.

The carriage is mounted on, and is supported' solely by, a single rail 24 which lies fiat on the top plate 6 and has race-ways formed in its front and rear edges respectively. 'Ihe carriage comprises two end pieces 25, which are connected together by longitudinally extending bars 26 and 27, which have formed therein race-ways which coperate with the race-ways in the rail 24 `to receive anti-friction balls or rollers 28.

The carriage is thus mounted on ball bearings for travel transversely of the machine. The end pieces 25 extend toward the front of the machine and have journaled therein the shaft 29 of a platen 30. The rail 24 may be detachably secured to the main frame, so that said rail and carriage may be removed together from the machine.

A rack bar 31 is secured to the underside of the carriage rail 26 and said rack bar is in mesh with two gear wheels 32 and 33 which are mounted side by side on a shaft 34 and extend through slots formed for the purpose in the top plate 6 and rail 24. The gear wheel 33 has fixed to one face thereof a spring drum 35 in which is coiled a spring 36, the outer end of which is secured to said spring drum and the inner, end of which is secured to the shaft 34, on which the spring drum 35 is journaled. The shaft 34 is journaled in two vertical frame pieces 37 and 38, which are rigidly mounted-on the shelf 3, to which they are secured. The tension of the spring 36 may be regulated by means of a ratchet wheel 39 which is controlled in the usual manner by a pawl 40 pivoted on the frame piece 37. 1

It will be perceived that the carriage is driven by the spring 36 actingthrough the gear wheel 33. The step-by-step feed of the carriage is controlled by an escapement mechanism which is geared to the gear wheel 32. The gear wheel 32 is loosely mounted on the hub of thegear wheel 33, but the freedom of motion of one of these wheels relatively to the other is limited by any suitable means. f the carriage is removed from the machine, this connection between the two wheels prevents relative rotation of such wheels, so that the main spring is controlled 43 which is fixed on a shaft on which is4 rigidly mounted a squared block 45. Two beveled gears 46 and 47 are journaled on shouldered screwsl 48 which are threaded into the block 45. These beveled gears mesh with beveled gears 49 and 50 which are journaled on the shaft 44, the whole constituting a bevelear epicycloidal train. An escapement w eel 51 is rigidly mounted on the hub of the bevel gear 49, and a gear wheel 52 is rigidly mounted on the hubof the bevel gear 50. The gear` wheel 52 meshes with a pinion 53 which is fixed on a shaft 54 which is journaled in the frame plates 37 and 38. Said shaft 54 vlextends through the frame piece 38 and has fixed on the end thereof in front of said frame piece a twotoothed escapement wheel 55. The construc- Vtion is such that the shaft 44 is controlled by both of the escapement wheels 52 and 55, and said shaft is free to turn when either of said escapement 'wheels is released, and if both of said escapement wheels be released at the same time the shaft is free to turn through a distance equal to the sum of the distances lpermit-ted by the two escapements separately. In the present instance the shaft 54 is geared to move through three times the angular distance of the gear wheel 52, and the ratchet wheel 55, has two teeth while the ratchet wheel 51 has six teeth. AV'Ihis being the case, it will be perceived that the two escapement wheels are designed to afford the same extent of feed movement to the carriage. The escapement wheel 55 is controlled by feed dogs which are connected with the universal bar so that said escapement wheel is under the control of the character keys. The escapement wheel 5l is controlled by feed dogs which are operated by the space key, so that when the last letter of a word is printed the key corresponding to such letter and the space key may be struck at the same time with the result that the carriage will be fed a double distance to space between words. In Fig. 1 the shaft 54 is shown broken away a short distance behind the frame piece 38 in order to show the mechanism mounted on the shaft.

The escapement wheel 51 is controlled by two feed dogs 56 and 57, both of which are pivoted on a rod 58 supported by the frame pieces 37 and 38. The feed dog 56 is formed on, or consists of, one arm of a bell crank lever, the other arm 59 of which is connected by a link 60 to an arm 61 projecting from the rock shaft 62 which is journaled at its rear end in the back plate 2 and at its front end in one of the frame plates 10 and which is. operated by a space key 63, the stem of which is pivoted to an arm 64 projecting from said rock shaft. The dog 56 is nor- `mally out of the path of the tooth of the escapementwheel 51, as shown in Fig. 3. The dog 57 extends substantially horizontally from the rodA 58 and normally4 is lifted out of the path of the teeth of said wheel by the arm 66 engaging the screw 65. The amount of motion thus imparted to the dog 64 may be regulated by adjusting said screw.` When the key 63 is released the parts are returned to normal position, withdrawing the dog 56 and permitting the dog 57 to drop into the path of the next succeeding tooth of the escapement wheel, by a spring 67 (Fig. 1) coiled about the shaft 62 and connected at one end to the frame plate 10 and at the other end to the arm 64.

Each of the sub-levers 13, 14 has a rearwardly extending arm 68 to which is connected one end of a spring 69, the other end of which is connected to the Washer 70 .of the screw 20 by which the hanger 19 is secured to the segment 21. The arms 68 operate the universal bar 71. Said universal bar has the form of a stepped segment and it is mounted for parallel motion up and down. To this end two brackets 72 are Secured to` the universal bar near the ends thereof and each of said brackets has pivoted thereto at 73, an arm 74 which is rigidly'connected to a rock shaft 75 which is journaled in brackets 76 of the top plate 6. A bracket or arm 77 is fixed to the universal bar near the middle thereof and said bracket is pivotally connected at 78 to a link 79 which is pivoted at 8O to a bracket 81 which is rigidly secured to the fixed segment 21. The link 79 is of the same length as the arms 74 and is parallel to saidarms, so that said arms and link guide the universal bar for parallel motion. All of the sub-levers 13, 14 are mounted to swing in substantially verticalplanes, and the universal bar is stepped on its under side, as shown in Fig. 3, and each of the arms 68 coperates with one of the steps.

In order to make the universal bar light and to avoid noise, I prefer to construct that part of said universal bar which is engaged by the arms 68 of wood or other organic material, and said universal bar is accordingly -built up of two thin segmental plates 82 having a layer of wood or similar material interposed between them, the whole being connected together by rivets 83 (Fig. 3). The organic material projects beyond the metallic plates and has the steps formed therein, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The

-ratchet wheel,

stop 96, which stop consists of an ear bentl escapement wheel 55 has its teeth projecting from its front face substantially parallel to its axis of rotation, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The middle portion of the universal bar lies directly in front of this escapement wheel and the feed dogs 91 and 92l are mounted directly on said universal bar, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2. While any suitable feed dogs might be mployed, yet I prefer to use the construction illustrated in the drawings, in which the fixed dog 91 consists of an ear bent up from a piece of sheet metal 93, which is secured, as by rivets 94, to the rear face of the universal bar. The loose dog 92 is pivoted on a screw 95 which is threaded into an ear of the plate 93. Said screw. stands approximately over the shaft 61, so that when the unlversal bar is reciprocated the pivot of the loose dog moves in a direction substantially toward and from the-particular tooth of the escapement wheel with which the feed dogs are coperating at the time. In the normal position of the parts shown'in Fig. 2, the loose dog 92`is engaged by a tooth of the which presses 1t against a up from the plate 93. The dog 92 extends a short distance above its pivot where it is connected to one end of a light spring 97, the other end of which is connected to an ear 98 bent up from the plate y93. When the universal'bar and the feed dogs are raised by the depression of a key to their upper position, the spring 97 moves the loose dog 92 toward the left in Fig. 2, until it is arrested by a stop 99, which consists of an ear bent up from the late 93. When the key is released the tootlii of the escapement wheel escapes past the fixed dog 91 and the next tooth engages the loose dog 92.

The carriage construction shown and described herein is claimed in my prior application, Serial No. 214,625, hereinbefore referred to; and the escapement mechanism is claimed in my prior a plication, Serial No. 229,485, also hereinbe ore referred to.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement, without departing from my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with the keys and key actuated devices, of a universal bar having the form of a stepped segment and mounted to move substantiall 1n the plane of the segment, the steps o said segment coperating with said key actuated devices.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a series of keys; a segmentally arv ranged series of sub-levers actuated by said keys; and a universal bar having the form of a segment and mounted to move substantially in the plane of said segment and to be operated by said sub-levers.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of auniversal bar; means for guiding said universal bar in a motion such that all parts of said universal bar move` in the same direction and to the same extent, said means including two arms fixed to a rock shaft and a link pivoted to said universal bar and to a fixed rpart; and means for operating said universal bar.

4. In a iront-strike typewriting machine,-

the combination of a serles of keys; segmentally arranged type bars,a segmentally arranged series of sub-levers which transmit motion from said keys to said type bars; and a universal bar having the form of a segment and mounted on parallel links for motion substantially in the plane of said segment, said universal bar being operated by said sub-levers.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a segmental universal bar comprising a stepped portion made of organic material and interposed between two metallic plates; and key actuated devices engaging the steps of said segment.

6. In a front-strike typewriting machine, the combination of a type bar segment arranged. in a vertical plane; type bars thereon; bell cranks hung on a curved segment and connected with said type bars; a curved and stepped universal bar; arms on said bell cranks acting on the steps of said universal bar for moving said universal bar in its own plane; and an escapement.

7. In a front strike typewriting machine, the combination of a series of front strike type bars arranged in a segment, a segmentally arranged series of sub-levers each having a vertically disposed arm and a horizontally disposed arm, means whereby said vertically dlsposed arms are connected with the type bars, a segmental universal bar .ar-

ALEXANDER T. BROWN.

Witnesses:

C. E. ToMLINsoN, H. BARRY. 

